Current Rock of Residence:
Saba
Island Girl Since:
August 2012
Originally Hails From:
The Netherlands
A traveller at heart, this landlubber has managed to stay in one spot for over five years now. That is because her heart has found a home on one of the smallest rocks in the Caribbean: Saba in the Caribbean Netherlands. Before her 30th, her travels had taken her around Europe, to Australia and New Zealand, Canada, the US, Malaysia, and Thailand. Turning 30 in a big city like Kuala Lumpur made her and her husband reevaluate what’s really important and so they meandered their way to this beautiful tropical rock.
One childhood dream of hers was to have a portal into a different world where time flows differently, so she could read an entire book, step back into Reality, and only 5 minutes have gone by. Let’s say she’s not quite found the portal, but instead a rock where time takes its own pace. The former concert goer and adamant believer in the power of books has not had one moment of regret of adding her rolling stone to this amazing rock.
Adding to the workload of teaching English language and literature at the high school that consists of about 100 students and the care for a cat and a husband, she now also has the care of twins and a baby. When they are not trying to pull the cat’s hairs or daddy’s beard, their mom tries to find the time to a) soak up the Caribbean lifestyle and b) sleep, which is supposed to come with point a), but somehow never materializes. Now also there is a new point in the line of personal development: c) write about the perks of living on a rock compared to her long ago life. This “Life BS” (life Before Saba) seems a distant past, where the words “workload” and “busy” and “commute” meant something else entirely.
Anyhow, if you’re curious about life on Saba and/or with kids in the Caribbean, be sure to check in every once in a while to her blog.
Explore posts by this writer:
Living with Small Kids on a Small Rock
I think it was about three years ago that me and my husband were sitting at the then newly opened Bizzy Bee bakery on a Saturday morning in Windwardside, Saba. People were waving, cars were honking, and the smells of coffee and freshly baked bread were in the air and...
How Social Media Rocks Our Rock
Facebook is the watering hole of our island, Saba. Public announcements of town hall meetings, notices of planned power outages, personal invitations, classifieds, lost and found, hurricane updates, obituaries - you can find all these and more on Facebook. If you hear...
Your Wild Ride to the Island of Saba
The Shortest Commercial Runway in the World with the Longest Name So you’ve finally booked your ticket to come visit our little island paradise, Saba. We can't wait to welcome you! I'm sure you can’t wait to experience the lush greens, the one road, the friendly...
Things to Consider Before Taking a Job on a Rock
A big step in moving to a rock and getting settled into island life is finding a job. If you are retired or well off financially, this post may not be for you. This post is for those of us that need a job to make a living and to make ends meet in paradise. But before...
To Riding Out The Squalls
I was sitting outside at home on our porch. We live in Windwardside, one of the four villages on our rock. Obviously, it’s the windy side of the island. It was the last Friday of the summer break; on Monday I would have to start teaching again. I was both looking...
Post-Hurricane Life on Saba
Living on a small Caribbean island changes your appreciation for certain things we tend to take for granted, like full shelves in a shop. This past Wednesday on my way to work, I saw a fully loaded truck drive up from the harbour with supplies. It was a beaten up,...
